Graco My Ride 65 Review

What I like:

The Graco My Ride 65 is extremely well priced. For a convertible car seat that follows the NHTSA car seat safety recommendations, can be used rear-facing up to 40 lbs, and up to 65 pounds in harness mode, anything under two hundred dollars is impressive! I honestly figured that it must be too good to be true, but it’s not.

I love the cup holders! Just the fact that the Graco My Ride 65 comes with cup holders is a bonus. With most high end convertible car seats you have to pay extra for cup holders. Also, the fact that they’re integrated and you don’t have to worry about getting them caught on anything is a huge plus. Oh, and the fact that your child can actually reach them is another bonus.

The recline is better than most. When using the Graco My Ride 65 forward facing, you don’t need to worry about your child’s head slumping forward when they fall asleep. This is a huge deal for me. I want my daughter to be comfortable, especially when she’s sleeping.

The Graco My Ride 65 measures 27″ deep, and the surrounding side walls of the car seat offer EPS energy absorbing foam. It’s almost like your child is enveloped in protection. They actually call it Safety Surround. Did I mention that the Graco My Ride 65 has also been side impact tested. You can actually watch the crash test on YouTube here.

Most importantly, the little ones really seem to love it. When I was reading through the reviews I was struck by the fact that so many of the reviewers had switched from an infant car seat to this seat. The main complaint about the infant car seat was that their babies were out-growing them too quickly. Most of the little ones would scream as soon as Mom or Dad tried to buckle them in. When they switched to the Graco My Ride 65, which is much more roomier, they noticed an immediate difference. Babies were happy and content. Those that very rarely slept in their infant car seats before, were now taking long naps.

What I Don’t Like:

Graco My Ride 65 – Prentis at Amazon $141.99

It’s big, but then again, most convertible car seats are. So if you plan on using the Graco My Ride 65 rear-facing, make sure that you buy it from someplace that will allow you to return it for free, just in case it doesn’t fit. There was actually very few people that returned it because it wouldn’t fit. Most just MADE it work. It seems to fit best in the center of the backseat.

Installation is not easy, but it can be done. For the most part, installing the Graco My Ride 65 is just time consuming. The user manual is like 56 pages long, and they don’t skip any details. I always tell people to read through the manual, and then watch the video’s on Youtube. It makes much more sense that way. Also, if you have trouble getting the little ball into the green area, you may have to use one of those pool noodles or a rolled up towel. Not very many people complained about having to do so though, so that’s a plus.

One last thing, and it’s actually quite common, but still incredibly annoying. When using the Graco My Ride 65 rear-facing, you may have trouble reaching the harness adjuster. It’s positioned pretty low on the front of the seat, which can be a plus if you have an active toddler, but if you’re using it rear-facing it’s tough to get to. If they had moved it up 1 inch it would’ve been better.

Conclusion:

In the end, I’m actually quite impressed with the Graco My Ride 65. It really is a fantastic convertible car seat, especially for the price. Just keep in mind, it’s big, it can be time consuming to install, and it does NOT offer a quick-adjust harness, you have to re-thread it. On the same note, it’s also about $100 dollars cheaper than most, it comes with cup holders, an excellent recline, and it’s SAFE!

As far as customer satisfaction goes, it scored an 82%, with 87 out of 106 rating the Graco My Ride 65 four or five stars. That’s impressive.